Ice crusher apparatus



April 23, 1968 J, mma ET AL ICE CRUSHER APPARATUS Filed March 24, 1966 Unit 3,379,382 Patented Apr. 23, 1968 3,379,382 ICE CRUSHER APPARATUS Jack E. Briar, Mission, Kane, Larry L. Hudson, Kansas City, Mo., md Foster Lisle Talge, J12, Overland Park,

Kans., assignors to Dazey Products Company, Kansas City, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed Mar. 24, 1966, Ser. No. 537,128 7 Claims. (Cl. 24163) This invention relates to ice crushers, particularly of the types used as household appliances.

Ice crushers for home use require small, low-torque electrical motors because of the limited space. The crushing of ice requires substantial force which is available from such small motors only after they have gained speed and, therefore, have kinetic energy stored therein because of that speed. In most cases, if an ice cube is dropped into the crusher before it is energized, the ice will lock the crusher and prevent it from gaining speed and the motor will be overloaded.

Additionally, from a convenience standpoint, it is desirable to make such ice crushers as simple to operate as possible for increasing saleability as well as minimizing operational difficulties.

It is, therefore, the primary object of this invention to provide a switch arrangement for an electrically operated ice crusher wherein means for operating the electrical switch for the crusher motor is combined with a latch maintaining the closure for the access opening to the crusher in its closed position to prevent access to the crusher Without energizing the crusher motor.

As a corollary to the foregoing object, it is an important aim of this invention to provide such a switch arrangement with structure connecting the closure With the switch when the closure is open, so that the crusher motor cannot be deenergized so long as the closure is open.

Another important object of this invention is the provision of such a switch arrangement so that the crusher motor is energized before access to the crusher can be obtained.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of an ice crusher utilizing one form of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational, sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, top plan view with parts broken away to reveal details of construction;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, ,rear elevational view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, perspective view;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, detail view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary, detail view taken along line 77 of FIG. 4.

The ice crusher, broadly designated by the numeral 10, has a housing 12 with an opening 14 therein for receiving ice to be crushed. A front, internal Wall 16, rear wall 18, and side walls 20 define an internal passageway 22 for directing ice from opening 14 into contact with crushing means 24 which are operable to crush the ice in a manner familiar to those skilled in the art and allow the crushed ice to gravitate into a drawer 26 which is adapted to receive the crushed ice and to be withdrawn from housing 12 as can be seen in FIG. 2.

Crushing means 24 which, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, may be in the form of comminuter blades, has a drive shaft 28 extending through wall 18 and rotatable with the armature of electric motor 30. Electric motor 30 may be equipped with a flywheel 32 as shown in FIG. 2. A flapper 34 may be swingably mounted on housing 12 as shown in FIG. 2 in closing relationship to opening 14 to prevent ice chips from being propelled through opening 14 during the operation of the ice crusher. Flapper 34 assumes the position shown by broken lines and designated by the reference numeral 34a in FIG. 2 when ice to be crushed is inserted through opening 14.

Closure door 36 has a pair of side walls 38 and 40, and is swingably mounted as at '76 on housing 12 for shifting between a position closing the opening 14 as shown in solid lines in FIG. 2, and a position clearing opening 14 as shown in dashed lines in FIG. 2 and indi cated by the reference numeral 36a. A spring 74 is provided, as shown in FIG. 6, to yieldably bias closure 36 toward the position clearing opening 14. Side wall 40 has an arcuate slot 42 terminating at one end in notch 44 and presenting an arcuate surface 46 for a purpose to be hereinafter explained.

A metal plate 48 having a pair of vertical slots 50 is rigidly attached to the interior surface of the front wall of housing 12. Plate 48 has an aperture 52 therein aligned with a corresponding aperture 54 in the front wall of housing 12. Latch means in the form of a slide plate 58 having a pair of vertically extending ridges 60, which cooperate with slots 50 for alignment therewith and limitation of vertical movement, is mounted in engagement with plate 48 for shifting thereon. Slide plate 58 has an aperture 62 therein in alignment with aperture 52. Aperture 62 is smaller than aperture 52 and is in alignment therewith throughout the vertical movement of slide plate 58 allowed by the interaction of ridges 60 and slots 50. A tab 56 is rigidly mounted on slide plate 58 and extends horizontally therefrom into the path of closure 36 and into slot 42 therein.

A switch 64 is electrically connected in series with motor 30 and is mounted on plate 48 by rivet means 66. Switch 64 has a vertically shiftable button 68 with a cross section which corresponds with aperture 62. Button 68 is telescoped through aperture 62 and extends into aperture 52 as best shown in FIG. 1 where slide plate 58 is illustrated in dashed lines. Electrical contacts (not shown) are provided in switch 64 so that When button 68 is pushed downwardly vertically in FIG. 1, the contacts are closed and electric motor 30 is energized. This downward movement of button 68 is transmitted to latch means 58 through the cooperation of button 68 with aperture 62 and slide plate 58 and. therefore, tab 56 are shifted downwardly at the same time. A cover 78 is provided for button 68 to improve the appearance of the ice crusher. This cover has been left out of IG. 1 to improve the clarity thereof.

For purposes of illustration, a compression spring is shown mounted on plate 48 and connected with slide plate 58 to yieldably bias side plate 58 upwardly and thus button 68 will also be yieldably biased upwardly through the cooperation of the latter with aperture 62. Generally, however, this spring will be included within the switch 64 to bias button 68 upwardly and, therefore, slide plate 58 will be biased upwardly also because of the cooperation between button 68 and aperture 62.

The cooperation between tab 56 and slot 42 is best illustrated in FIG. 5 which illustrates door 36 in its position clearing opening 14. Tab 56 extends into slot 42 and because tab 56 is biased upwardly by the action of spring 70, tab 56 will cooperate with arcuate surface 46 to prevent the upward movement of tab 56 and the upward movement of slide plate 58 and button 68 is likewise prevented and the contacts of switch 64 are thus maintained in an actuated condition.

Referring now to FIG. 2, it can be seen that, as door 36 is shifted from the position clearing opening 14 as shown by the dotted lines along a path 86 to the closing position with respect to opening 14 as indicated by the solid lines, tab 56 remains in contact with surface 46,

thus keeping the motor 30 energized until closure 36 reaches the opening 14 closing position where notch 44 is positioned above slot 42 and tab 56 is thus freed for upward movement into notch 44 and slide plate 53 and button 68 are moved upwardly under the influence of spring 76.

Referring further to FIG. 2, and in particular to the solid line illustration of door 36 in its closing position with relationship to opening 14, and with tab 56 biased upwardly into notch 44 under the influence of spring 70, note that a side 72 of notch 44 cooperates with tab 56 to prevent the shifting of door 36 to the position clearing opening 14- indicated by the dashed lines and the reference numeral 36a.

In its standby condition, the ice crusher is normally maintained with door 36 closing the opening 14 as shown in FIG. 1 and in solid lines in FIG. 2. In this position, tab 56 is biased upwardly into notch 44 and slide plate 53 and button 68 are also biased upwardly so that motor 36 is deenergized. In this position, door 36 cannot be opened because of the cooperation between side 72 of notch 44 and tab 56. When it is desired to crush ice, button 68 is moved downwardly in aperture 52 to a position where the contacts of switch 64 are closed and thus motor 30 is energized. The downward movement of button 63 is transmitted to slide plate 53 through the cooperation of button 68 and aperture 62 and thus tab 56 is moved downwardly out of notch 44. When tab 56 is in this position, door 36 is free to shift to its opening 14 clearing position under the influence of spring 74 as shown in FIG. 6. When door 36 attains the position clearing opening 14 illustrated in FIG. 5, surface 46 of slot 42 is in a position to cooperate with tab 56 to prevent the upward movement of tab 56, slide plate 58, and button 68 under the influence of spring 70. Thus, motor 30 will remain energized and further ice may be fed to the crushing means 24 as long as door 36 is maintained in its position clearing opening 14.

When it is desired to tie-energize the machine after sufficient ice has been crushed, door 36 is manually shifted back into its position closing opening 14 as illustrated by the solid lines in FIG. 2 and thus notch 44 moves into a position above tab 56 and the latter is moved upwardly thereinto and thus slide plate 58 and button 63 move upwardly and the contacts of switch 64 are opened to de-energize motor 30.

It is apparent that, with the incorporation of the described structure in an ice crusher, it is impossible to bring ice to be crushed into engagement with the crushing means 24 unless the latter are in motion. The motor 30 may not be energized in the first instance without also releasing the door 36 for shifting into its position clearing opening 14. Additionally, while door 36 is in its open position, the cooperation between surface 46 and tab 56 prevent motor 30 from being de-cnergized so long as opening 14 is cleared for the acceptance of ice to be crushed.

Structure embodying the principles of the instant invention as illustrated in the foregoing is desirable because of the simplicity of operation thereof. It is to be noded that when cover 78 and, therefore, button 68 are manually shifted downwardly to energize motor 30, door 36 is freed for shifting to the position clearing opening 14 under the influence of spring 74. Further, at the end of the crushing operation, door 36 is simply manually shifted against the basis of spring '74 to the closing position with respect to opening 14, and tab 56 is freed for shifting upwardly into notch 44. Thus, button 68 is shifted upwardly under the bias of spring 70, and motor 30 is automatically de-energized. At the same time, tab 56 is biased into notch 44 under the influence of spring 70 to prevent door 36 from being opened until motor 36 is once again energized by manually shifting cover 78 downwardly.

Having disclosed an illustrative embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that various modifications thereof could be used without departing from the spirit of this invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention shall be deemed limited only by the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In an ice crusher having a housing with an opening for receiving ice to be crushed, crushing means, and an electric motor operably coupled with said crushing means for operating the latter:

a closure for said opening shiftably mounted on said housing for movement between a position closing said opening and a position clearing said opening;

releasable latch means normally holding said closure in its closing position; and

switch. means electrically coupled with said motor and operably coupled with said latch means for operating the motor and releasing the latch means when said switch means is actuated.

2. The invention of claim 1, wherein said switch means is mechanically coupled with said latch means.

3. The invention of claim 1, wherein is provided means for maintaining said switch means in actuated condition whenever said closure is in its clearing position.

*4. The invention of claim 3, wherein is provided means yielda-bly biasing said closure toward said clearing position.

5. The invention of claim 4, wherein said closure comprises a door swingably mounted on said housing adjacent said opening,

said latch means including a tab extending into the path of movement of said closure,

said closure having a notch disposed to cooperate with said tab when the closure is in its closing position to hold said closure in said position.

6. The invention of claim 5, wherein is provided means for yieldably biasing said tab into cooperative relationship with said notch, and

said switch-maintaining means includes an arcuate surface on said door disposed to cooperate with said tab and terminating in said notch to maintain said latch in its released condition and said switch in its actuated condition whenever said closure is out of said closing position.

7. The invention of claim .1, wherein is provided:

means yieldably biasing said switch means toward its tin-actuated condition and said latch means toward its position for holding said closure in its closing position;

means yieldably biasing said closure toward its clearing position;

means for manually shifting said switch means to its actuated condition and said latch means to its released condition substantially simultaneously to energize said motor and permit said closure to shift to its clearing position; and

means to hold said switch means in its actuated condition as long as said closure is in its clearing position, whereby said switch means remains in its actuated condition until said closure is returned to its closing position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,205,285 11/1916 Stimpson 24 l63 1,238,784 9/1917 Keary 241--63 3,313,493 4/1967 Scott 241-36 HARRISON L. HINSON, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN AN ICE CRUSHER HAVING A HOUSING WITH AN OPENING FOR RECEIVING ICE TO BE CRUSHED, CRUSHING MEANS, AND AN ELECTRIC MOTOR OPERABLY COUPLED WITH SAID CRUSHING MEANS FOR OPERATING THE LATTER: A CLOSURE FOR SAID OPENING SHIFTABLY MOUNTED ON SAID HOUSING FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN A POSITION CLOSING SAID OPENING AND A POSITION CLEARING SAID OPENING; RELEASABLE LATCH MEANS NORMALLY HOLDING SAID CLOSURE IN ITS CLOSING POSITION; AND SWITCH MEANS ELECTRICALLY COUPLED WITH SAID MOTOR AND OPERABLY COUPLED WITH SAID LATCH MEANS FOR OPERATING THE MOTOR AND RELEASING THE LATCH MEANS WHEN SAID SWITCH MEANS IS ACTUATED. 